Learning a language with music.

When I heard of a method of learning a language all based around music I thought “that’s the very thing for me”!  I enjoy learning new languages and you may have an inkling what my thoughts on music are.

Earworms produce various language learning CD’s where the lessons are put to various types of music and all you have to do is relax and listen to each song to gradually pick up new vocabulary and grammatical rules. 

The theory is that in the same way as a catchy song or lyric will stick in your head, so too will the new language you hear.  This idea goes back many years and before the invention of books or the internet many societies remembered and passed down stories via song.  It has even been shown that Australian Aborigines were able to navigate across vast distances using the lyrics in traditional songs as descriptions of the route.

According to the literature with the CD’s the Earworms technique has produced average test results over 90% compared with the average 50% with more traditional methods.  It also cites studies showing how we only use a portion of our brain and linking learning to music accesses another area of the brain to accelerate learning.  With claims like this I thought it was well worth a go.

As I have a huge personal interest in Japan I thought I would start with the Japanese Earworms course and as soon as it dropped through my letterbox I loaded it onto my ipod and slipped on my headphones to surround myself in the music.  I did as the course suggested and didn’t actively try to memorise anything and I just listened to the CD as a piece of music in it’s own right.

Japanese Earworms

 There are two speakers on the course, a male and female and they talk along with the music, sometimes in time with it and sometimes across it, but they never clash with the music playing.

The music here is meant to be catchy and the first track certainly is.  I found myself repeating words and phrases even after I stopped playing the CD.  But, some songs are better than others and whilst the course does play a variety of styles, some music sounds a touch twee or not especially catchy.  I found these tracks the hardest to remember. This is a flaw in the course, if the music doesn’t engage you, or you don’t find it catchy, the you are virtually missing a whole lesson from your memory.

But this is a minor niggle and all in all I found myself remembering most of the language taught.

The funny thing is, if I find myself unable to remember a phrase or word then all I have to do is start ‘singing’ the part of the song that it relates to and pretty soon the word has come to me.  Proof if ever it was needed that the concept works, although I’m unsure if I’d get away with that in a shop when on holiday or in a business meeting!!!

Overall I found the course a good way to acquire new vocabulary and grammar and whilst it isn’t perfect, if you use it in consort with other methods then I think this is a very useful tool to learning a new language.  You may not enjoy every song on offer, but if you are a music lover like myself, then it is certainly worth a try.